Inc. Magazine – September 2019

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STATE OF YOUR EMPLOYEES

Talent, talent, talent: Finding it, and keeping it, is the biggest challenge facing fast-growing

companies. These CEOs are boosting perks, equalizing pay, and building inclusive,

transparent companies to find and retain valuable workers.

HOW HAVE YOU CHANGED

YOUR APPROACH

TO RECRUITING?

WHAT BENEFITS DOES YOUR COMPANY OFFER TO EMPLOYEES?

TO INCREASE DIVERSITY,

MY COMPANY HAS

“Employees need to

understand the ‘why’

behind leadership deci-

sions. I’m very trans-

parent with information

and speak at a standup

weekly meeting, and we

have more in-depth

quarterly meetings.”

NO. 4,235KRISTI PIEHL, Media Minefield

ALMOST 70% OF

RESPONDENT CEOS CROSS-

TRAIN THEIR EMPLOYEES IN

DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE

BUSINESS; 68% give their

employees different jobs to help

their development; and 61%

provide outside training. Fewer

than a third provide mentorship

and formal leadership develop-

ment programs, while 23% of

respondents reimburse tuition.

These Inc. 5000 CEOs also get

creative with workplace perks,

offering happy hours, company

vacations, volunteering opportu-

nities—and, occasionally, shares

in the fast-growing companies:

“We have done team

bonding events

such as 5K races ...

and we grant stock

options, so every-

one is a true owner

of our company.”

NO. 13MADELINE HAYDON,

Green Grass Foods

“We have annual beach

trips if we meet goals—

and we’re a virtual orga-

nization, so two to three

times a year, we have

all-company meetings.”

NO. 4,788SONIA ST. CHARLES,

Davenport Group

“We have a WWE-type

belt that we award to

the top trucker of the

month.”

NO. 2,798DAVID WISE,

Freedom Capital

OF CEOS SAID THEY HAVE HAD

AN EQUAL-PAY POLICY IN

PLACE FROM INCEPTION,

WHEREAS 17% HAVEN’T

ADDRESSED IT. Women make

85 ¢ for every $1 men earn,

according to Pew, a disparity

that’s worse for women of

color—and one that made

international headlines this

summer, thanks to Megan

Rapinoe (pictured, far right) and

the World Cup champion U.S.

soccer team she co-leads. (The

team, which has sued the U.S.

Soccer Federation over gender

discrimination, won their fourth

World Cup in July but earn 38¢

for every dollar earned by their

male counterparts.)

HOW TO MOTIVATE—

AND KEEP—YOUR

BEST WORKERS

OF SURVEYED CEOS said that

finding and retaining good staff is

one of the biggest obstacles to

their company’s growth.

47% have improved

compensation or benefits

35% have revised

ideal-candidate profiles

34% have used assessments

or work samples to evaluate job fit

WORK FROM HOME/

REMOTELY

FREE FOOD, IN

OFFICE PERKS

401(K) MATCH EDUCATIONAL

STIPENDS

EXTENDED PAID

MATERNITY LEAVE

67% 65% 61% 38% 29%

Matching applicants to

our culture

Lack of experience

in applicants

Limited number of

applicants

Broadened our sources for seeking candidates 35 %

Worked to identify more diverse internal talent (^16) %
Created a formal strategy (^15) %
Reached out to schools, organizations, etc. (^13) %
Reworked job descriptions to eliminate bias (^6) %
THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES IN ATTRACTING
QUALIFIED TALENT INCLUDE